Just days after Carrie Wall learned her father’s colon cancer was terminal, she watched him encourage a standing-room only crowd at the Center for the Family conference in June 1996 with poise and hope, as her eyes welled with tears of disbelief.
Terry Giboney died six months later. He was a teacher, principal and superintendent before coming to Pepperdine and working in fundraising. His wife, Susan Giboney, now a retired Pepperdine professor, worked for the Center for Teaching and Excellence.
Twenty one years after his death, Giboney’s legacy of compassion and humor continues to influence the university through his daughter. Carrie Wall, currently assistant professor of Teacher Education and undergraduate coordinator of the Teacher Preparation Program at Pepperdine, has been a professor at the university since August 2010. A wife, mother, teacher, daughter and friend, Carrie Wall said she strives to live as her father lived as she makes her own impact on the university.
“He always had a little twinkle in his eye,” Carrie Wall said. “He always punned. He always had fun with things.”
Carrie Wall earned her doctorate in education from University of California, Santa Barbara while balancing teaching work at Pepperdine, raising three children and supporting her husband’s ministry.
“It was crazy,” Carrie Wall said. “But God provides.”
Carrie Wall is married to Andy Wall, who is currently serving as the preaching minister at Conejo Valley Church of Christ. The couple, like Carrie Wall’s parents, were married at Pepperdine. Andy and Carrie Wall have three daughters: Jenna, a 2016 Pepperdine alumna, Jessica, a Pepperdine senior planning to graduate in the spring and Michaela, a Pepperdine sophomore who is spending her year abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Both Jessica and Michaela Wall recall fond memories of their mother sharing the impact of their “Pappa Terry” on campus. Michaela Wall was given the middle name Terry in remembrance of her grandfather, Carrie Wall said.
“To many, a middle name is but a third title, a mere additional collection of letters on their birth certificate,” Michaela Wall wrote in a tribute speech about her grandfather. “But for me, my middle name is my greatest joy, and I am honored to bear it.”
Michaela Wall said she enjoys hearing stories about her “Papa Terry” from her mother.
“She always will talk about him with a big smile on her face, even if it’s through tears,” Michaela Wall said.
Carrie Wall said she has spread her father’s spirit through her work as an educator on campus by sharing her passion with those around her.
Her daughter Michaela, an interpersonal communication major, remembers her mother constantly telling her that “education is never wasted,” when she was a child.
“She has made me value the role of education and the role of educators in my life,” Michaela Wall said.
Carrie Wall said she did not always want to be a teacher. In fact, she believed it would be a “cop out” because her parents were educators. Though she graduated as valedictorian of her high school class, she said she remained small minded about her future career.
“I had this sense at 18 years old that smart people become doctors, lawyers or business people,” Wall said.
During Carrie Wall’s year abroad in Heidelberg, Humanities Professor Michael Gose broadened her perspective on the role of an educator. He attended Stanford University and showed Carrie Wall that teachers were smart and influential individuals. Upon finishing her time in Heidelberg, she decided to follow her true passion and changed her major to sociology adding a single subject teaching credential in math.
“When I finally said yes to it (education), it was exactly what I was supposed to do,” Carrie Wall said. “When I am in the classroom I feel most alive.”
Carrie Wall taught high school geometry for about four years.
“I liked teaching math because students don’t like math,” Carrie Wall said. “They have all this anxiety toward it and I liked the challenge.”
Then she got her masters in counseling and became a school counselor, but after a while, Carrie Wall said she missed the classroom.
Soon after, the Teacher Education Program at Pepperdine proposed that she teach one course as an adjunct. Carrie Wall said she was able to teach other educators a subject she was passionate about.
“I get to teach what I love to others to do the same,” Carrie Wall said. “I love college.”
This led Carrie Wall to seek a PhD and teach at the university level.
This spark for the classroom has rubbed off on her daughter, Jessica Wall, a senior English education major. In addition to her general coursework, Jessica Wall is a full-time student teacher. She described her mother as an absolutely instrumental influence in her decision to pursue the education field.
“If I could do it with half of the stamina, the commitment and the hard work, I will be half of the teacher she is,” Jessica Wall said.
Keith McGuire, a sophomore sociology major seeking a social science teaching credential, said he hopes to be a college professor one day. Carrie Wall’s academic mentorship has positively influenced McGuire. He recalled one of his most recent meetings with Carrie Wall.
“We filled each other in on life, she was motherly and supportive, and knew exactly what to say when she was asking me about my future,” McGuire said.
Intentionality and care are two traits that Carrie Wall said she received from her father.
“Right now, I have people on campus that call me Momma Wall, Dr. Wall, daughter and Aunt Carrie,” Carrie Wall said.
Carrie Wall’s father served as a school superintendent for a time.
“But he was the superintendent who knew the name of every cafeteria worker, every custodian,” Carrie Wall said. “Jose would come in at the end of the day as my dad was leaving and my dad would say, ‘You’re in charge now, Jose.’”
The Wall family said Terry Giboney was a man who exemplified the compassion and faith of Christ, even through the toughest battles.
“God is my plan A,” Terry Giboney wrote in a statement of his faith. “I have no plan B. I want to bear witness before all to the absolute goodness of God.”
On the day of Terry Giboney’s memorial service, more than 650 people flooded the Pepperdine Firestone Fieldhouse to pay their respects.
“I think that Grandpa Terry would be so proud of my mom,” Jessica Wall said. “I know the Fieldhouse was packed at my Papa Terry’s funeral, but can you imagine what my mom’s funeral would be like? Just think of how many lives she has touched on this campus.”
Aubrey Stanchak completed this profile in Jour 241 in Spring 2018 under the supervision of Dr. Christina Littlefield.
